Flower Shops Niles IL

Niles IL Press

Alternative gifts: Tips for meaningful holiday giving

Practical romance Gloria Gates, of Fremont's Niles district, lost the last of her three children two years ago, so she prefers to keep the holiday low-key. Still, her husband, George, loves to treat her, so she lets him buy her something she regularly uses in the kitchen. He individually wraps up rolls of wax paper, often in different-sized boxes designed to "fool her," he jokes. He also buys her nonlatex gloves to wash dishes and stuffs a stocking with Hershey bars. "I'm a big spender, as you can tell," he says. Gloria laughs, adding, "It's very romantic." Workplace philanthropy If well-paid Bay Area workers feel a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses pressure to dazzle colleagues with stylish iPhone docks or $260 Ecuadorean chocolate, Point Richmond executive coach Donna Stoneham sends her clients gifts that she hopes lets them feel like they are making a true difference in people's lives. Stoneham makes don... http://www.mercurynews.com/spotlight/ci_29160634/alternative-gifts-tips-meaningful-holiday-giving